A body’s bones can become
sets of stones rubbing against each other in sparks.

I didn’t believe him.

Is this how reporters feel?

Bio

Jacob Victorine is a multi-genre writer, teacher, artist, and founder of On TAPE Studio. Born and raised in New York City, he earned an AAS in Menswear Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2007, a BA in English Literature from Brooklyn College in 2009, and an MFA in Creative Writing-Poetry from Columbia College Chicago in 2013, where he is currently a Part-time Instructor in the Creative Writing Department. His poems appear in places such as Columbia Poetry Review, Vinyl Poetry, Matter, DIALOGIST, Phantom Books, and PANK, which nominated him for a Pushcart Prize in 2013.

As a fashion writer, Jacob has published articles for GRAILED's"Dry Clean Only," Heroine's "The Editorial,"and produced content for high-end boutiques such as Notre and MEYVN. As a literary reviewer and critic, he has written essays for Publishers Weekly and Poets' Quarterly and served as a Book Reviewer forMuzzle Magazinefor five years. As a competitive slam poet, he has twice been a Grand Slam Finalist at the Mental Graffiti slam in Chicago and was a member of the 2011 Jersey City National Poetry Slam Team.

Jacob currently lives in Chicago with his wife, Sarah, and their cats, Gilgamesh and Sita. FLAMMABLE MATTER (Elixir Press, 2016) is his first book. His second manuscript, Dear Anne, Dear Sarah, Dear Melita was a semifinalist for the 2016 Fordham University Press POL Prizes.

Flammable Matter

Winner of the Elixir Press Editor's Prize FOR POETRY

"Victorine wants to bear witness, and to make bare his voice so that oppressed bodies might, before they give way, give testimony. He knows that his speakers are striving, urgent, and aflame. Therefore, he writes more than elegy, more than remnants of bone and ash; he writes his speakers in the midst of living, in the midst of living trauma."

Charities

Below are a few of the many worthwhile charities that work to resolve some of the myriad of social and political injustices that are explored within Flammable Matter. Please consider donating your time and/or resources to one or more of them.